224 THE CORAL INSECT. 



such as chanced to come in direct and close contact 

 with its little cell. United, they have formed 

 vast islands, which have become the abode of man, 

 and which, in the aggregate, form no inconsiderable 

 portion of the globe. 



The consideration of this leads us to perceive 

 that God has ordained that units cannot, separately, 

 accomplish much ; and that united effort, in order 

 to be successful, requires the harmonious action of 

 units. "A house divided against itself cannot 

 stand." The innumerable and eminently beautiful 

 isles of the Pacific had never stood where they now 

 stand if the curious, and separately insignificant, 

 little architects that reared them had not wrought 

 unitedly upon a fixed and systematic plan each 

 insect working its utmost from the hour of its birth 

 until that of its death. 



There are various kinds of .coral insects, which 

 form varied species of coral rock. Some kinds of 

 coral assume the form of rounded masses ; some are 

 like a branching shrub ; others are in layers, or 

 thin plates ; and some are shaped like the human 

 brain, from which they derive their name brain- 

 stones. These different kinds differ also in colour, 

 and thus present a beautiful appearance when seen 

 at the bottom of clear and shallow water. 



In regard to the rate at which the corallines build 

 their cells there is some diversity of opinion some 

 asserting that the process is imperceptible, while 

 others state as positively that it is rapid. There 



